Contractors need to be nimble enough to position themselves for whatever the market yields. “We want to be a ‘must consider’ for every project, and to be that, we must constantly improve,” says Pat Di Filippo, Executive Vice President of Turner’s Northeast region.
For the past several years, design-build has accounted for 10–15% of Turner’s work. “If you’re going to do design-build, you have to be able to drive the design,” Di Filippo says. The company is also pursuing projects more aggressively via public-private partnerships.
Last year, the company launched Turner Engineering Group, which now has 16 experts. Di Filippo, who leads the group, says there is “a tremendous thirst” for TEG’s services throughout the company. Its services have been expanded to include design peer review.
One recent project where TEG is providing services is the $114 million Center for Cyber Security Studies at the U.S. Naval Academy, which the design-build team of Turner and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has been selected to deliver. The 206,400-sf facility will include a research and testing tank to support its engineering and weapons labs, an observatory, offices, and collaborative spaces for students and faculty.
Turner also has been cultivating its self-perform capabilities, such as concrete pouring. Last year, it hired nine regional Lean practice managers to streamline construction and reduce costs.
Making Turner a Lean practices company is a work in progress. “But the results are moving in the right direction,” Di Filippo says.
He is cautiously optimistic about business, especially in New York City, where several mega-projects are in the works. “We’re geared up for opportunities,” he says.
RETURN TO THE GIANTS 300 LANDING PAGE
Related Stories
| Dec 17, 2010
Sam Houston State arts programs expand into new performance center
Theater, music, and dance programs at Sam Houston State University have a new venue in the 101,945-sf, $38.5 million James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center. WHR Architects, Houston, designed the new center to connect two existing buildings at the Huntsville, Texas, campus.
| Dec 17, 2010
Alaskan village school gets a new home
Ayagina’ar Elitnaurvik, a new K-12 school serving the Lower Kuskikwim School District, is now open in Kongiganak, a remote Alaskan village of less than 400 residents. The 34,000-sf, 12-classroom facility replaces one that was threatened by river erosion.
| Dec 17, 2010
Luxury condos built for privacy
A new luxury condominium tower in Los Angeles, The Carlyle has 24 floors with 78 units. Each of the four units on each floor has a private elevator foyer. The top three floors house six 5,000-sf penthouses that offer residents both indoor and outdoor living space. KMD Architects designed the 310,000-sf structure, and Elad Properties was project developer.
| Dec 17, 2010
Subway entrance designed to exude Hollywood charm
The Hollywood/Vine Metro portal and public plaza in Los Angeles provides an entrance to the Red Line subway and the W Hollywood Hotel. Local architect Rios Clementi Hale Studio designed the portal and plaza to flow with the landmark theaters and plazas that surround it.
| Dec 17, 2010
New engineering building goes for net-zero energy
A new $90 million, 250,000-sf classroom and laboratory facility with a 450-seat auditorium for the College of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign is aiming for LEED Platinum.
| Dec 17, 2010
Vietnam business center will combine office and residential space
The 300,000-sm VietinBank Business Center in Hanoi, Vietnam, designed by Foster + Partners, will have two commercial towers: the first, a 68-story, 362-meter office tower for the international headquarters of VietinBank; the second, a five-star hotel, spa, and serviced apartments. A seven-story podium with conference facilities, retail space, restaurants, and rooftop garden will connect the two towers. Eco-friendly features include using recycled heat from the center’s power plant to provide hot water, and installing water features and plants to improve indoor air quality. Turner Construction Co. is the general contractor.
| Dec 17, 2010
Toronto church converted for condos and shopping
Reserve Properties is transforming a 20th-century church into Bellefair Kew Beach Residences, a residential/retail complex in The Beach neighborhood of Toronto. Local architecture firm RAWdesign adapted the late Gothic-style church into a five-story condominium with 23 one- and two-bedroom units, including two-story penthouse suites. Six three-story townhouses also will be incorporated. The project will afford residents views of nearby Kew Gardens and Lake Ontario. One façade of the church was updated for retail shops.
| Dec 17, 2010
ARRA-funded Navy hospital aims for LEED Gold
The team of Clark/McCarthy, HKS Architects, and Wingler & Sharp are collaborating on the design of a new naval hospital at Camp Pendleton in Southern California. The $451 million project is the largest so far awarded by the U.S. Navy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The 500,000-sf, 67-bed hospital, to be located on a 70-acre site, will include facilities for emergency and primary care, specialty care clinics, surgery, and intensive care. The Building Team is targeting LEED Gold.
| Dec 17, 2010
Arizona outpatient cancer center to light a ‘lantern of hope’
Construction of the Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Gilbert, Ariz., is under way. Located on the Banner Gateway Medical Center campus near Phoenix, the three-story, 131,000-sf outpatient facility will house radiation oncology, outpatient imaging, multi-specialty clinics, infusion therapy, and various support services. Cannon Design incorporated a signature architectural feature called the “lantern of hope” for the $90 million facility.
| Dec 17, 2010
Cladding Do’s and Don’ts
A veteran structural engineer offers expert advice on how to avoid problems with stone cladding and glass/aluminum cladding systems.
